📺 Midterm has become an undeniable phenomenon — reportedly surpassing 1 bn views even before reaching its finale, and dominating social media for weeks. The 30-episode series, directed by Mariam El Bagoury and written by Mohamed Sadek with the Barah Workshop, follows a group of Egyptian and Arab university students, each with heavy family baggage, navigating the minefield of social politics playing out on a university campus.

Each is sucked into drama at home, at uni, and within the friend group upon joining a mysterious and anonymously run group therapy application called Dr. Freud. Over time, the very tool that gives them a sense of belonging and connection transforms into a psychological weapon that threatens to expose their secrets and fuels conflict within the group.

The show’s greatest strength is its characters. The ensemble cast feels remarkably realistic, using slang that actual Egyptian college students use and dressing in appropriate attire — casual but fashion-forward. Yasmina El Abd delivers a stellar and challenging role as Tia, a psychologically complex character at the center of the drama, playing against Jala Hesham, who holds her own as Naomi. The titular scenes between these two steal the show, barreling towards a fierce stand-off with a major twist in the final batch of episodes. Keep your eyes peeled for singers Ziad Zaza and Donia Wael, who contributed a few tracks to the show’s soundtrack, and Youssef Raafat who gives another standout performance.

The series tackles weighty themes that widely affect today’s youth — parental divorce, physical and verbal abuse, culture shock, mental health struggles — without seeming overly contrived. It succeeds because it takes young people’s struggles seriously without being preachy. At its core, the series delivers a powerful message: unresolved trauma and mental illness will come back to haunt you and ruin your relationships, but it’s never too late to seek help and forgiveness.

WHERE TO WATCH- You can find Midterm on Watch It and Shahid, and watch the trailer on YouTube (watch, runtime: 2:07).

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